The Chef's Blog

Finally, right?!?!l know I have been inundated with requests for this relatively simple recipe for a few months now at all of the summer BBQ's we did this spring and summer. The delay came in the form of my standard of not publishing untested recipes and as I have never written this one down nor have I done it in a smaller batch (my smallest group this summer was 80 for this one, BTW), so I just needed catch up for a minute to execute a small batch, write it, repeat it and then yes, demo it this last Saturday at the Hahn Harvest Party. So without further digression, here it is!The chicken is brined overnight and then coated in our Poultry not Paltry blend before going over an oak fire until the skin is crunchy and beautiful (see above pic for tummy-rumbling-action!). The sauce is basically a beurre blanc with a few tweaks and additions. The most notable difference is that I often use a more oaky, buttery chard for this recipe as opposed to a crisp, citrus forward pinot gris for a straight beurre blanc.Ingredient:

Method:Pour wine into hot saucepan and carefully allow alcohol to burn off. Reduce your heat to medium/medium high. Add Poultry not Paltry seasoning and shallot. (*note: if you prefer to not strain your shallots out at the end - I keep mine - then either use ground thyme or wrap your thyme sprigs in cheese cloth for easy removal later). When the wine is half reduced, zest your lemon directly in then juice your lemon into a small bowl and set aside. Allow the wine to reduce to about 1/4 C then add lemon juice, reduce heat to low. Add lemon juice. and reduce until almost all liquid is gone, or a sec. When I say almost gone, I mean it. You should be 20 seconds from disaster and this may scare you the first few times. Remove from heat and whisk butter in one to two at a time until fully incorporated. Return to very low heat and slowly incorporate cream, followed by the bouillon and Dijon mustard.This type of sauce likes to "break", or separate, if it gets too hot. The extra cream helps stabilize it while also toning down some of the acidity. If it does break you have two options: eat it anyway - it tastes fine! or, you can get super tricky and whisk two egg yolks over a water bath and turn it into a hollandaise. A little complicated, but no joke, I came up that one night. It makes the sauce a little heavier but totally saved all of that yummy butter and wine reduction!Please enjoy, share, and comment!Nice stuff only please, I'm fragile. ;)

I purchased a few of your rubs at the Hahn pick up! You served a butternut squash with greens that was delicious. Will you share the recipe? Also, the chardonnay chicken is one I will definitely try! How many pounds of chicken will the sauce serve?

Hi Anna - Happy Thanksgiving!
I cut, then roasted the butternut squash with my special chili blend and then tossed it with wild arugula, sundried tomatoes, crispy sage with browned butter, and then finished it with cotija & goat cheese.
Cheers!
DF